On a united opposition and direct representation

Cope parliamentary leader Mvume Dandala.

IT is time for all non-racial opposition parties to unite against the ANC ahead of the next municipal elections in 2011. Doing away with the party-dominated proportional representation system would be a bonus.

I submitted this letter to the Sunday Times on the issue. What are the chances of it being used? Very slim, I’d guess, if Winnie Mandela submits another tome like the one they ran on Sunday, which took up nearly half the available space.

Anyway, here is the piece I’ve submitted (and it was in fact used):

THE problems raised by Eusebius McKaiser can be partially ascribed to our political system of proportional representation (“National debate? More like the clash of ignorant armies”, Sunday Times, April 18).

If there is one thing the “old South Africa” was good at it was debates in parliament. Who will ever forget the courageous one-woman stand of Helen Suzman against apartheid? And when the Progressive Federal Party was formed, people like Van Zyl Slabbert and Alex Boraine joined her in exposing the worst excesses of that system.

The bottom line was that each MP first had to win election by a specific constituency. This meant a personal election campaign against one or more opponents from other parties. If elected, he or she was accountable to a specific geographical constituency, and also, of course, to the party they stood for.

There are drawbacks to this “first past the post” system of direct representation, including the marginalisation of smaller parties, but the positives are huge.

Instead of MPs being entirely beholden to the party whip, each has his or her own powerbase, the constituency which they represent. They can even resign and stand for election as independents should the party not be happy with them.

But in the current system each party, and the massive ANC majority makes this pivotal, chooses a list of candidates, and the less independent-minded you are, the higher up on the list your party bosses are likely to place you. Blind loyalty to the party, irrespective of morality, is the requirement. Which is why, especially in the ANC, there is a dearth of leadership figures. No-one is willing to risk his or her political future by, for instance, challenging the party line – under Mbeki’s reign – on Zimbabwe and Aids. Today, no-one in the ANC will challenge the Zuma regime on the widespread corruption and nepotism we see around us.

Indeed, such corruption seems to be reaching epidemic proportions. While service delivery fails and town and city infrastructure crumbles, the incidents of ANC politicians and their friends using their positions to fill their purses is steadily on the increase. The latest example, following Armsgate, is what one could call Eskomgate, in which the ANC investment arm, Chancellor House, stands to siphon off billions to the ANC’s coffers through a form of insider trading in the construction of a new power station.

Imagine an election based entirely on constituencies? You might even get people interested in politics again, with meetings held in halls in each constituency as candidates try to woo voters. You may even see your candidate walking the streets and knocking on doors, canvassing for support. Today all we have are those stage-managed tours of the country before each election by the party leadership.

I’m not hankering for the past, having personally worked with the PFP in my youth in a bid to rid this country of apartheid. But I do think that the old system of direct representation gave our politics more character and meaning. The debates in parliament today are pretty much charades, as the ANC, with its huge majority, steamrollers legislation through while, at best ignoring, if not openly disparaging the opposition. How else does one interpret Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s treatment of Cope leader Mvume Dandala, when he tabled a motion of no-confidence?

While McKaiser says her attitude shows “either a basic lack of understanding about the rules of parliament, or a pernicious attempt to ignore them”, I believe at heart our proportional representation political system is to blame. There is something reassuringly humbling about the old way in which MPs were identified as “the member for Durban North”, or whatever. It gave the debates a sense of context. Sisulu may be a minister, but she should also have a constituency, where voters can actually vote her out of office if they are dissatisfied with how she performs. And, given her treatment of the Reverend Dandala, a gracious, caring man, I believe most people, even in the heart of Soweto, are downright unhappy with how she has used her position to disparage him and his party.

It is surely high time that Cope, for all its unpleasant links with the Mbeki past, joined forces with the DA to give the ANC a real run for its money. With the help of the IFP and the Independent Democrats, this grouping could surely win several ANC-held municipalities in next year’s municipal election.

And at least in local government elections there is greater accountability, with candidates standing in actual geographical wards, although some councillors are still appointed on a PR list.